Slow bowling, I'm curious which Pro bowler threw or throws the slowest ball?

[BowlingJoe]

I always see things on the web about bowling and high ball speed and high revs, and tried to look around a bit, to see who might have the slowest ball speed be it of today or yesterday and were successful with it. But I didn't really come up with anything. So thought I'd ask and see if anyone remembered a pro bowler or seen a pro bowler who just for whatever reason happened to throw considerably slower than the norm?

[foreverincamo]

Back in the 70's they didn't post ball speed and rev rates, but Earl Anthony won a ton of tournaments and his ball speed was pretty slow.

[J Anderson]

In the 60s and 70s, the more you hooked it the slower you had to throw it. Earl Anthony probably was right around average speed for his era.

Tim Criss was nicknamed "Turtle" by his fellow PBA members for his low ball speed.

[RobLV1]

Synthetic lanes and modern aggressive bowling balls require more ball speed than ever before to get the ball down the lane and conserve energy for knocking down pins. There are a few PBA players who are still successful without excessive ball speed. Most notable is Pete Weber who uses a unique combination of axis tilt and axis rotation to get the ball down the lane without high ball speed.

[rv driver]

Back in the 70's they didn't post ball speed and rev rates, but Earl Anthony won a ton of tournaments and his ball speed was pretty slow.
Saying that Earl Anthony "won a ton of tournaments" is like saying that "the Pacific ocean has a lot of water." Just sayin'.

[Aslan]

Junichi Yajima??

Patrick Healey Jr.?

[Aslan]

Saying that Earl Anthony "won a ton of tournaments" is like saying that "the Pacific ocean has a lot of water." Just sayin'.

Yeah. Earl Anthony had a marginally successful career. He definitely had some good games and made a fair share of at least decent shots.

[BowlingJoe]

Guess my wonder about this comes from some things I was noticing on well the house shot which I knows a lot different than a pba oil pattern but still I think the concept applies on some level. I've noticed least with my shots, its not so much about speed really as it is well hitting the darn pocket. I actually get better pin movement with my slow ball but I think thats mostly cause it has a lot more revs and my well straight throw is well straight as a damn arrow I can only hook if I throw it really slow for some reason. Makes no damn sense to me lol, Think maybe I might get a wrist support. Think maybe that would fix that not sure. But anyways, thanks for the replies. I also wonder if sometimes the added speed can't screw ya where pins sorta bounce off one another and skip a pin or well like my turkey attempt last week two pints hit 1 pin at the same time and it just stood there like wtf yo? I'm not going down this round. Would be interesting to see like a graph of pro bowlers and their ball speed compared to wins and such I think though.

[bowl1820]

Would be interesting to see like a graph of pro bowlers and their ball speed compared to wins and such I think though.

This is a chart of C.A.T.S. data from a few years back showing a comparison of Ball Speed and Average:

http://s5.postimg.org/ave2gmhvr/CATS_BALL_SPEED_VS_AVE.jpg

One thing to remember speed is only one part of the equation! A lot of speed doesn't automatically mean higher scores.

[foreverincamo]

Well, my ball speed at the pins is around 14.7 to 15 mph and my average is around 200. If the lanes call for it I can average 17 mph and do quite well.

[bowl1820]

Well, my ball speed at the pins is around 14.7 to 15 mph and my average is around 200. If the lanes call for it I can average 17 mph and do quite well.

Since ball speed at the pins is typically 3 mph slower than the release speed. That would give you about a 18mph release speed.

So 18mph@release with a 200 Average falls right inline with this chart.
http://s5.postimg.org/ave2gmhvr/CATS_BALL_SPEED_VS_AVE.jpg

[NewToBowling]

At most centers, when they display the speed is it the release speed or speed at pins?

And I'm noticing most centers don't have speed indicator anymore. Only one at local place here has it

[JJKinGA]

This is a chart of C.A.T.S. data from a few years back showing a comparison of Ball Speed and Average:

http://s5.postimg.org/ave2gmhvr/CATS_BALL_SPEED_VS_AVE.jpg

One thing to remember speed is only one part of the equation! A lot of speed doesn't automatically mean higher scores.

The women's scores are on simlar alnes with simlar balls. So 17.5 MPH could be the cut-off for elite - I think the differnece is the rev rate for men is higher than women so it requires more speed.

[Amyers]

At most centers, when they display the speed is it the release speed or speed at pins?

And I'm noticing most centers don't have speed indicator anymore. Only one at local place here has it

Most centers display speed at the pins and they are notoriously unreliable. If you want your ball speed you can figure it much more accurately yourself using video. I'm sure there are threads on here that explain how.

[bowl1820]

At most centers, when they display the speed is it the release speed or speed at pins?

Most houses measure speed at the pins.

[bowl1820]

The women's scores are on simlar alnes with simlar balls. So 17.5 MPH could be the cut-off for elite - I think the differnece is the rev rate for men is higher than women so it requires more speed.

Yes, basically it's the match up of Speed and Revs.

Comparing this speed chart with the one on Rev rates and then comparing that to the Matched bowler chart they are fairly similar.

[foreverincamo]

I didn't see the chart said it was release speed . We have a high rev player that averages 22.8 at the pins, revs around 400.

[Aslan]

So 18mph@release with a 200 Average falls right inline with this chart.

Dang. That would give me a 19-20mph release speed...but I have nowhere near that average. That chart must be broken or something.